John Allen (PhD ’89) is the dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and a professor of Sociology at Utah State University. His research has focused on the social dimensions of community development including social and economic entrepreneurship, technological change, public lands management, rapid population growth and energy development. John was a faculty member at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln focusing on rural development for 13 years before moving to Utah State to become Director of the Western Rural Development Center. Before working at UN-L he was an assistant professor at the University of New England in Maine. He became founding dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2010.-https://soc.wsu.edu/socnews/keeping-up-with-our-alums/